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(02/10/99 10:00am)
New programs were created for students to study in England, Argentina and Hong Kong. Finance in Frankfort? OPIM at Oxford? For Wharton students interested in taking a full business curriculum while studying abroad, such options will now be possible. At a meeting yesterday, Wharton faculty culminated a three-year negotiation process by approving plans for four new student-exchange programs with Oxford University in England; Chinese University in Hong Kong; San Andres University in Buenos Aires, Argentina; and Johann Wolfgang Goeth University in Frankfort, Germany. The business school's study-abroad programs provide an opportunity for a small number of Wharton students to combine the study of language with courses that may be used to satisfy Wharton's business requirements. And similar arrangements will enable foreign students at participating schools to study at Penn. Each university may send and accept a maximum of two students per year. The new Wharton-sponsored exchange programs will bring the total number of international Wharton programs for undergraduates to seven, as the school is already involved in successful ventures in Italy, France and Spain. Although other University study-abroad programs offer courses for students with a basic command of a foreign language, Wharton's program will be geared to those students who have a "higher level" of understanding, according to Wharton Deputy Dean Janice Bellace. Bellace said the new sites were chosen for a number of different reasons . "Having [Wharton courses] in Buenos Aires, Latin America, will meet student demand for students who know the language well," she said, noting that Spanish is the No. 1 language in which Wharton students achieve proficiency. Hong Kong is also popular for Wharton students to study and the new exchange program will allow students to take business courses in both Chinese and English, Bellace said. The program at Oxford's Saide School of Business will be that school's first official exchange program with any university. Bellace pointed out that the European Union's new bank in Frankfort is a reason Wharton wanted to establish a presence in the German city. The new exchange programs "open opportunities for [Wharton] students to study abroad but graduate on time," she added. Wharton added new language and global environment requirements in 1991 -- for which students must take three liberal arts courses that have a 20th century, international focus -- and at that time many Wharton students expressed interest in studying abroad, Bellace said. But she said the school's numerous business requirements made it extremely difficult for Wharton students since "most of Penn's study-abroad programs are designed for students in the [School of] Arts and Sciences." In the past, "very few Wharton student studied abroad," she said. "Now, between 15 percent and 20 percent do. And for a business school, that is very unusual."
(02/08/99 10:00am)
It takes a little more than "wishing upon a star" to make Disney's dreams of theme parks and ride attractions come true. That's what two Disney "Imagineers" -- members of Disney's creative team who design and develop its entertainment attractions -- told more than 125 students who packed a large Steinberg-Dietrich Hall classroom Friday morning. In a lecture sponsored by the Wharton Undergraduate Association, Imagineers Joe DiNunzio and Brad Geagley explained the creative process behind the development of Disney's theme park attractions. The pair also hyped up the new "high-tech, indoor and interactive" DisneyQuest theme park, set to open at 8th and Market streets by the summer of 2000. The DisneyQuest facility is a key component of Philadelphia Mayor Ed Rendell's plans to revitalize the downtown area and is touted as a potential jumpstart to the city's tourism industry. DiNunzio, who is Disney's senior vice president of new product development, explained that Imagineer teams start the creative process with brainstorming sessions, where groups of script writers, engineers, managers and Disney Chief Executive Officer Michael Eisner suggest ideas. After generating a simplistic "concept statement" and "rubberhead" Disney character mascot for inspiration, the group joins other members of Disney's staff -- including artists, computer engineers, ride designers and real estate investors -- to further develop the idea behind a theme park attraction. Geagley said Imagineers also work with marketing consultants, psychologists and educators who evaluate rides for content. "While the idea is king, the ultimate focus has to be product," said DiNunzio. Imagineers also conduct extensive research to find real estate, budget the project, determine park tickets, make the rides safe and limit the amount of time park-goers spend waiting in line. And even after the park is constructed and the Disney marketing blitz has occurred, the Imagineers must find ways to maintain the experience. "We have millions of visitors, and we have to get it right every time," DiNunzio said. In the afternoon, the two Imagineers also ran a closed-door, interactive brainstorming session for Wharton MBA students in Management Professor Gabriel Szulanski's section. Szulanski -- who frequently invites consultants and executives to share their experiences with his class -- said that the Imagineers were a natural choice to demonstrate the "disciplined imagination" process he teaches. "They are a great example. The name 'Imagineer' is a hybrid of the term that combines imagination with engineer," he explained. The new indoor DisneyQuest theme park in Philadelphia -- one of 30 of its kind in the nation -- will contain four high-tech zones that house several attractions including a virtual dinosaur rafting safari, a "Mighty Ducks" pinball game that allows visitors to control the action by serving as human joysticks and a roller-coaster simulator that allows guests to create their own rides.
(02/04/99 10:00am)
It could have been a scene from The Jetsons. Hundreds of full-time business professionals gathered in classrooms across the country Tuesday night to interact with Wharton School faculty members "beamed in" live via satellite from a West Philadelphia studio. The business professionals -- from such companies as American Express, Microsoft Corp. and Coca-Cola -- were course-shopping for lessons in business strategy, finance and macroeconomics through a program called Wharton Direct, a joint venture in distributed education between Penn's business school and its technology partner, the Baltimore-based Caliber Learning Network. Through the program, which began this fall but previewed a new selection of six-week courses last Tuesday, Wharton professors use advanced technology -- such as live satellite feeds, video-conferencing and computer-networking -- to broadcast interactive lessons and communicate with classroom groups of around 15 executive students each in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and 23 other major markets in which Caliber operates. According to Wharton Direct Managing Director Allyson McGraw-Peirce, all of the courses are "interactive, integrated and applied." During most classes -- which cost between $2,500 and $3,000 each -- the professor lectures via satellite for 20 to 30 minutes of the three-hour session, usually on the case-based reading material students complete for homework. Three to four times during the class, the professor turns the discussion over to the site-based Caliber facilitators, who lead small group "module discussions" in the classrooms. Professors then use the video-conferencing technology to "virtually visit" different classrooms for larger group discussions, calling on students from any Caliber site across the country. "I think classroom participation is the future of education, but what we are trying to do is make it irrelevant whether or not the professor is in the same physical room with you," said Operations and Information Management Professor David Croson, the course director. "And we're damn near there." Students having trouble understanding a lecture can refer to slides from the personal computer at their desk, search a database of frequently asked questions on the course's World Wide Web site or contact the professor over the Internet during posted "virtual office hours." Students are also able ask the professor to answer questions of general interest to the entire class during the lecture by sending the professor an on-line instant message called a "connect." The response to the program thus far has been positive. "I had always dreamed of going to Wharton, to have the interaction with the professors, but the geography made that impossible," said Roberta Longworth, a full-time tax associate in Washington, D.C., for the Columbia Energy Group. Through the satellite program, Longworth is now able to remain in her home city while taking a Wharton Direct course. She said her company paid for the course because the "Wharton name is known and [its education] is proven" to many of her bosses who have attended executive education classes on campus. So far, Wharton Direct has offered "Building A Business Case," an interdisciplinary course that draws upon faculty from the Marketing, Management and OPIM departments to take budding entrepreneurs through the process of developing their business. Other courses -- such as "Macroeconomics" taught by Finance Professor Jeremy Siegel and "Reading Financial Statements" taught by Finance Professor John Hershey -- are slated to begin this spring. Administrators are currently developing courses in negotiations, the global marketplace and personnel management.
(02/02/99 10:00am)
Mergers and acquisitions have caused corporations to change their names in the past few years faster than one can say "DaimlerChrysler." At a conference that the Wharton Management Club sponsored last Friday, several corporate executives and business leaders who have played an active role in company mergers were on hand to share their experiences with about 70 Penn students in Vance and Steinberg-Dietrich halls. "Many students come to Wharton knowing they want to do mergers and acquisitions and investment banking, but they don't know what it entails," conference chairperson and Wharton sophomore Janice Yu said. "We wanted to expose students to areas of investment banking and mergers and acquisitions in the telecommunications, insurance, biotechnology and financial sectors," she added. Yu pointed to the recent growth rate in mergers and acquisitions despite problematic financial markets in East Asia, Russia and other international locations. Executives from deal-making firms like Goldman Sachs offered a financial sector perspective on mergers, while top officials from newly merged firms like MCI Worldcom, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Chase Securities and Citigroup explained why their firms merged. "It's not just a change in capital structure -- it has got to be a change that increases the value of your firm," said 1991 Wharton graduate Mark Feldman, vice president of global mergers and acquisitions for Chase Securities. And 1974 Wharton graduate and Travelers Group chief executive officer Jay Fishman cautioned that the recent trend of corporate mergers "is not a business strategy," but is instead "a reflection on changes in the business environment." Globalization, increased competition and the increased speed in relaying information have made these mergers more pronounced, Fishman said, explaining why his company merged with Citicorp in April 1998 in what was considered the largest merger at the time. Citigroup is now the 12th largest corporation and the third largest business insurance firm in the world, according to Fishman. Other executives pointed to the need for additional resources and increased market share, since clients now require a greater breadth and depth of services than they have in the past. Still, all of the executives were quick to point out that the transition isn't always smooth. "The biggest problem of a merger is changing the [rigid] mindset of 'we used to do this but they do it like that,'" said Duross O'Bryan, a top partner in the financial services division of PricewaterhouseCoopers. "Seven months into [our merger with Coopers & Lybrand] and that's still a cultural issue that is hard to get over," O'Bryan said. In addition to having to lay off workers as his company downsized after merging, Fishman related some of the problems his company faced. "At the very least, there are two people who hold the CEO position, and you must decide who will hold that position [in the merged company]," he said. Students gave the event positive reviews. "You hear about mergers and acquisitions every day, but unless you read The Wall Street Journal every day, you don't often see tangible results," Wharton sophomore Huijin Kong said. For College and Wharton sophomore Elizabeth LaPuma, the conference had a more practical implication by helping her decide which type of summer internship she wants.
(02/02/99 10:00am)
Groundbreaking for the massive $128 million facility is expected to take place April 16. After a five-year development process, Wharton administrators unveiled the design yesterday afternoon for the school's new $128 million, state-of-the-art business education complex set to be completed by late 2002. The 300,000-square foot facility -- to be constructed on the site of the former University Bookstore at 38th and Walnut streets -- will soon be home to the 4,700 students in Wharton's undergraduate and MBA programs, as well as administrators and four Wharton departments. It will also provide classroom space, additional computer labs, group workstations, study and social lounges and two new cafes. Administrators chose to go with the "complex" design of the building in order to account for the unique height requirements of bordering both Locust Walk and Walnut Street. "I think the building is a critical step forward," said outgoing Wharton Dean Thomas Gerrity, who has played a key role in the development and fundraising of the building. "We'll have a vastly improved classroom experience, better technology, new team-study rooms and double the size of our computer labs," Gerrity noted, adding that, "It is part of our master plan to bring life and vibrancy to Walnut Street and the campus environment, and to make it more attractive for students and faculty to live." Gerrity added that officials have already raised over $90 million of the estimated $128 million necessary to finance the project, mainly through private donations. He said administrators are currently fundraising for the rest of the nearly $40 million. The University Board of Trustees is expected to approve the budget later this spring. The building was designed by the renowned New York-based architectural firm Kohn Pederson Fox Associates. The firm's officials said they took a "biological approach" to create a highly functional building. The facility itself will have two main components, with separate entrances for undergraduate and graduate students. The entrance to the rectangular part of the red-brick and stone facility will face Locust Walk. It will lead to the ground and first floors, which will host classrooms, computer and behavior labs, study lounges, advising offices and an indoor-outdoor cafe. This part of the complex will also feature ground-floor space for Wharton's undergraduate and MBA clubs and conference-planning committees. There will also be a new 300-seat auditorium and multi-purpose space on the ground floor, which Gerrity said he hopes will attract speakers and conferences. Over half of the rest of the building's floor space will be dedicated to the eight-story, cylindrical drum-shaped tower overlooking Walnut Street, which will house more than 250 offices for the Management, Operations and Information Management, Marketing and Legal Studies departments, in addition to offices. On the top floor of this section, a 200-seat "colloquium" and multi-purpose conference center with a 40-foot skylight will provide meeting space for University functions. According to Assistant Dean for Finance and Administration Laurie Lundquist, unique "U-shaped" classrooms were developed to improve students' sight lines. High-tech classrooms will feature a variety of video-conferencing units and video production and editing stations for group projects. The classrooms "are like space modules designed to meet the needs of the academic philosophy Wharton represents," principal architect Bill Pederson said of the 57 group study rooms set aside for team-based projects. Similarly, the architecture lends itself to housing both the undergraduate and graduate programs. Lundquist explained that while undergraduates will enter the facility from Locust Walk, MBAs and faculty members will have their own entrance on Walnut street. According to Wharton Associate Dean for Administration and Finance Scott Douglass, who has directed the project over the past four years, the facility aims to create a highly functional building while keeping in mind the style of the University's traditional campus architecture, as well as the needs of students, faculty and Wharton's technology-laden and team-based curriculum. "We tried to bridge the gap by making [the new building] feel part of the tradition of Penn's campus but look to the future of the campus and the University," Pederson said. According to Pederson, the biggest challenge of designing the facility was adjusting its scale to suit the campus. "It's a big building, yet Locust Walk has some of the smallest buildings on campus. On the other hand, Walnut Street is starting to get bigger buildings such as Samson Common," Pederson said. A groundbreaking ceremony is scheduled for April 16 and construction is slated to begin in early summer.
(01/22/99 10:00am)
Fresh-brewed frustration between University administrators and My Favorite Muffin personnel came pouring out of the Wharton Cafe Wednesday morning when University Vending Services terminated the vendor's contract. And that same morning, the Boston-based Au Bon Pain cafe chain began serving its first cups of coffee from a make-shift concession stand in the basement of Steinberg-Dietrich Hall, when UVS named the coffee, bagel and sandwich franchise the official vendor of the Wharton Cafe. Au Bon Pain, which currently operates 11 franchises in the Philadelphia area, will offer a lunch and breakfast menu, including breads and soups, when it officially opens early Monday morning. "We're going to try to be very responsive and offer efficient service and a good selection," Au Bon Pain franchise co-owner Bart Isdaner said. The termination of My Favorite Muffin's contract was the result of hundreds of complaints from students, faculty and staff against the former occupant, said Wharton Facilities Services Director Peter Wieck. Wieck reported My Favorite Muffin's "inadequate service level" last fall to Vending Services Manager Sandy Bates, whose department terminated the My Favorite Muffin contract. "My Favorite Muffin couldn't adapt to meet the different needs and desires of the Wharton community," Bates said. "We received complaints from day one," Wieck said, pointing to allegations of rude employees, basic hygiene violations, poor quality products and a general lack of product variety and availability. Wharton sophomore Harlan Cherniak seemed to agree. "My Favorite Muffin was getting stale," he said. Wieck also said that My Favorite Muffin reneged on its original hours of operation and its promises to offer discounts and package deals to students and staff. The former My Favorite Muffin manager -- who requested anonymity -- acknowledged that the cafe frequently suffered from a lack of product, which she said was due to the high volume of sales. "We tried to order enough, but enough was never enough," she said. The manager denied that her staff was not hygienic. She added that Wharton officials were "unprofessional" when they terminated the cafe's lease, stressing that officials did not warn My Favorite Muffin employees beforehand that they were about to lose their jobs. But Wieck said Wharton officials informed My Favorite Muffin corporate headquarters about the decision to end the lease. Students and faculty said they did not mind the switch from one cafe to the other, and others said they had not even noticed. "I won't miss the My Favorite Muffin franchise, but I do like to see the coffee shop open in the morning," first-year Wharton MBA student Troy Figgins said. Wharton sophomore Nikhil Da Victoria Lobo added, "As long as Au Bon Pain serves good food so I am less than 15 minutes late for my class, I'm happy." Daily Pennsylvanian staff writer Jeffrey Joseph contributed to this article.
(01/20/99 10:00am)
Students were deeply divided in their opinions of Clinton's State of the Union address last night. and Molly Selzer Against the backdrop of a divisive impeachment process, President Bill Clinton outlined his plans for a wide range of issues, including Social Security, health care and education in his annual State of the Union address last night. Like the stately chamber of the House of Representatives -- where Clinton was impeached last month and last night faced an unusually polarized crowd -- Penn's Hamilton College House was also divided across party lines during a joint viewing of the speech by the College Democrats and College Republicans. With issues that appealed to virtually every demographic group, Clinton said he wants to use the budget surplus to protect Social Security and Medicare benefits, improve public education and health care standards and raise the minimum wage by a dollar an hour. And in a surprise announcement, he said the Justice Department is planning a lawsuit against cigarette manufacturers to recoup the costs of smokers' government-funded medical expenses. Students freely voiced their opinions throughout the speech. And for all the president's talk of a need for bipartisanship, student politicos were sharply divided down party lines. College Republicans Chairperson and College junior Patrick Ruffini called the lengthy speech "77 minutes of nothing." Yet College junior and self-professed Democrat Michelle Weinberger showed more support for the president's initiatives, highlighting Clinton's Social Security proposal. "With the number of elderly Americans set to double by 2030, the baby boom will come a senior boom. So first and above all, we must save Social Security," the embattled president said, proposing that the government use 62 percent of the expected 15-year government surplus -- or a forecasted $2.7 billion -- to keep the trust fund solvent until 2055. "I think it's an excellent idea," Weinberger said, calling the president's plan "a fantastic use of the money," though she said he should allocate more of it for education initiatives. Clinton also singled out several people who sat as guests of First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton and the wife of Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert. Included in the gallery were the widows of the police officers shot to death last summer inside the Capitol building, civil rights activist Rosa Parks and National League MVP Sammy Sosa, who Clinton called "a hero in two countries" for his 66 home runs in the U.S. and for his charitable efforts in his native Dominican Republic after last summer's devastating Hurricane Georges. As part of his education initiative to "create schools for the 21st century," Clinton called for state and local school districts to implement and raise standards for public school students and teachers and reiterated his call to improve facilities and to place a computer in every classroom. In addition, Clinton vowed to continue to support higher education. With tax credits, student loans, Pell grants and Hope Scholarships, "we have finally opened the doors of college to all Americans," the president said. College sophomore Philip Bartlett -- a Republican -- stated his rebuttal succinctly: "That's bullshit," he said. References to the current trial in the Senate were noticeably absent from the address -- as they were last year, just days after the Monica Lewinsky scandal broke. Chief Justice William Rehnquist, who is presiding over the Senate trial, did not attend the speech. Most of the House managers prosecuting the president did attend, though they mostly remained silent and seated throughout Clinton's speech. In Hamilton's Rathskeller Lounge, several members of both clubs said the Lewinsky scandal made it impossible to fully concentrate on the content of the speech. "When Bill says it, all you can see is the controversy," said College junior Neal Mueller, a Democrat. And Ruffini said that Clinton "has basically wasted this country's time for a year since the last State of the Union address, when he could have ended [the Monica Lewinsky] controversy and he didn't."
(01/19/99 10:00am)
Growing up in a West Philadelphia neighborhood just blocks from Penn's campus, Will Johnson said he had a lot to learn about how to succeed in business -- especially as an African-American. However, hard work, a little luck and a lot of networking -- in addition to his Wharton MBA credentials -- enabled him to succeed, the Visage Energy chief executive officer told a small audience last weekend at the Whitney N. Young Business Conference. Johnson joined more than 800 students, professionals and corporate and community leaders at the Pennsylvania Convention Center to discuss current business issues, learn about African-American progress in the business world and honor the legacy of 1960s civil rights leader and business educator Whitney Young. The three-day conference and career fair sponsored by Penn's African-American MBA Association -- which attracted students from schools such as Harvard, Stanford and Cornell universities -- is "the largest student-directed conference at Penn, Wharton and arguably any business school in the United States," according to first-year MBA student Olukunle Malomo, who is a member of the conference planning committee. Panels of successful African-American businesspeople -- including several Wharton School alumni -- addressed a variety of current topics of interest to the African-American community, such as community development, building economic ties with African nations and Internet marketing. "We wanted to be reflective as well as looking forward to the future," added second-year MBA student Eme Essien, the vice chairperson of the conference. Julian Bond, president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, gave the keynote address at the conference Saturday, where he spoke about the struggle African-Americans face in business and politics. The Young Conference -- sponsored by such companies as Goldman Sachs Co., the Campbell Soup Company and Citibank -- also kicked off the AAMBA's newest initiative. At the conference's opening ceremonies, the group pledged $250,000 toward the multi-million-dollar Wharton classroom building. Construction is set to begin this summer at the site of the former University Bookstore at 38th Street and Locust Walk. "We are the first student group to make that type of contribution on that scale," said conference spokesperson Veronica Woods, a second-year MBA student, who noted the group's intentions to memorialize Young's name on a classroom in the new building. And the conference also held a "New Venture Competition," which awarded $10,000 of start-up money each to the student and non-student entrepreneur with the best business plan. Eugene Wade -- who graduated from Wharton's MBA program in December -- won the contest for his work with LearnNow Inc., a for-profit education organization seeking to open public charter schools in urban areas. "If Whitney Young were alive today, he would be talking about technology in the African-American community, improving education, globalization and the strides corporations have made [in giving African-Americans more opportunities]," Essien said.
(01/12/99 10:00am)
Ice-Cream entrepreneur Jeremy Kraus will appear in a 30-second TV spot. Nevermind the score. This year's Super Bowl on January 31 will feature more than just pigskins, pads and helmets. A 30-second commercial during the second quarter of the NFL championship -- worth $1.6 million -- will air the face of 1998 Wharton graduate Jeremy Kraus, founder of Jeremy's MicroBatch Ice Creams, a wholesale ice cream company he created as a Wharton junior fewer than three years ago. As the winner of the second annual nationwide "See Your Small Business on the Super Bowl Search" contest for small businesses sponsored by Mail Boxes, Etc., Kraus will star in the commercial and showcase the ice cream which bears his name and headshot during the most-watched, most-hyped television event of the year. Super Bowl XXXIII is expected to attract 130 million viewers. After entering the contest in early fall at the 3741 Walnut Street Mail Boxes, Etc. store, a panel of MBE and advertising executives announced yesterday morning that they selected Kraus to appear in the Super Bowl commercial from a field of thousands of entrants. Kraus -- winner of the 1997 Pennsylvania Young Entrepreneur of the Year award -- will also receive $5,000 in prize money from MBE. The "compelling nature of [Kraus'] business idea, his presence" and his response to two questions posed by the contest sponsor enabled the 22-year-old ice cream maker to stand out, explained Bill Anderson, the owner of the off-campus MBE. According to MBE spokesperson Karen Gajewski, the panel was impressed that Kraus "graduated from Wharton and could have worked for any company in the world, [yet] he decided to strike out on his own and pursue his dreams." When he was a junior, Kraus derived his trademarked "MicroBatch" concept from the "microbrew" idea previously instituted by such beer giants as Samuel Adams and Pete's Wicked Ale. Financing the company with $70,000 worth of stock market earnings, Kraus was involved in several stages of his business' development -- including designing the brand label that bears his face, telephoning retailers and actually distributing his product. Kraus, who concentrated in entrepreneurial management at Wharton, deferred to his management professors for tips on how to market his product. "My food marketing professor told me that a special process, great ingredients and fabulous flavors weren't enough to compete in the cutthroat ice cream business," Kraus wrote on his World Wide Web site, explaining why his own face is on the label. Kraus' business -- which he operates with two friends from Penn -- has certainly grown since the days when it was sold in Penn commissaries and local convenience stores. Today, Jeremy's MicroBatch ice cream -- which comes in six flavors such as Fuzzy Navel, Coffee Extravaganza and Chocolate Down Under -- is sold in 11 states. When creating his business, Kraus set up an MBE mailbox as his company's official business address, a move which enabled him to develop a relationship with the store. Kraus also uses MBE to ship 25 pints of his ice cream per week in specially insulated containers. "Using MBE on the Penn campus made it possible for me to juggle school and my own business," Kraus noted in his entry to the contest. Still, while there is every indication that the Super Bowl commercial will allow Kraus to reach higher levels of sales and fame, Kraus has not yet requested a larger mailbox.
(11/23/98 10:00am)
Graham Walter spoke about the making of the film Thursday night. Graham Walter is now a top executive at Pixar Animation, the studio that produced the hit 1995 movie Toy Story and the upcoming A Bug's Life. But Walker, a 1995 graduate of Penn's Engineering School, credits his successful career in animation to his experiences at Penn. While walking through the Moore Building as an undergraduate, Walker caught a glimpse of a professor giving a presentation on movie special effects. After sitting in on the class, Walter approached the professor and told him, "I want to work for George Lucas," referring to the famed director of 1977's Star Wars and founder of the Hollywood special effects company Industrial Light and Magic. "Can you tell me how?" Last Thursday night, Walter returned to his alma mater to pay homage to that professor, Computer Science Professor Norman Badler, and teach University undergraduates how computer animated films are made. During the third lecture in a series sponsored by the newly established Digital Media Design major -- which began this fall as a joint effort between SEAS, the Annenberg School for Communication and the Graduate School of Fine Arts -- Pixar's head technical director addressed a crowd of more than 60 University students in Annenberg. Looking to the Wednesday release of A Bug's Life -- which stars Dave Foley and Kevin Spacey -- Walter showed brief clips and still shots from the new movie to highlight the computer animation process. "After Toy Story, we were feeling pretty proud, and we decided we wanted to make an epic. Epics are pretty hard to make," he explained as he told the audience about the obstacles overcome by the Pixar production team. Led by veteran computer animation director John Lasseter -- who also did 1995's Toy Story -- the team faced numerous challenges including an enlarged wide screen format, the creation of a realistic "living world" of insects and an ensemble cast of thousands of ants. The massive effort it took to make the film required doubling the studio's production staff and a budget "two to three times more expensive than its live-action counterpart" would have been, he said. In addition, creating the realistic, beautiful scenes which define the new film's critically-acclaimed animation involved the installation of more than 1,300 new supercomputing processors. "Sun Microsystems said it was the largest installation they are allowed to tell us about -- whatever that means," Walter said. Engineering freshman and prospective Digital Media Design major Matt Tieff said that he "was impressed with the art of each scene. It wasn't even moving, and it looked great." During his two-hour-long talk, Walter also discussed how new technologies evolved from academic classrooms and industry -- and from small firms to larger studios -- to influence blockbuster films such as 1991's Terminator 2: Judgment Day, 1995's Casper and 1997's Titanic. Universal Studio's blockbuster Jurassic Park, he said, was a turning point in the use of computer effects, since the 1993 feature film on dinosaurs "effectively blurred" the lines between computer animation and reality. "It was the first time we were able to do whatever we wanted. We were not creatively or technologically limited," he explained. Still Walter claims that Lasseter's belief that "technology inspires art, and art challenges technology" is still at the crux of Pixar's work. According to Walter, although colleges such as Penn, Brown University and the California Institute of Technology traditionally provided many of the top special effects wizards, a renewed emphasis on illustration means that now some of the art schools are providing the best candidates. But Badler said the DMD program "aims to connect students between the technological world of computers, the art world of design and the communication world of storytelling." Walter agreed. With its stress on solid foundations, "the DMD program [at Penn] is right on the money with its interdisciplinary approach," he said.
(11/04/98 10:00am)
In a rematch of a tight 1996 race, Democrat Joe Hoeffel beat incumbent Jon Fox in a campaign watched by both parties. and Andrew Ribner BLUE BELL, Pa. -- When it came down to the wire two years ago, U.S. Rep. Jon Fox barely beat Joe Hoeffel to win a second term representing most of Montgomery County. This year's hotly contested rematch, however, played out differently. Energized by memories of his 84-vote loss in 1996, Hoeffel defeated Fox yesterday by 6 percent in one of the country's most closely watched congressional races. Addressing a crowd of 300 screaming supporters in Blue Bell, Pa., Hoeffel, 48, vowed to improve public education, control health-maintenance organizations and save Social Security. "The last race gave this campaign a lot of credibility," Hoeffel said. Both campaigns made considerable efforts to ensure voters came out to the polls. On the other side, the mood was quite different. Despite early optimism at Fox's election night party in the Cedar Brooke Inn, also in Blue Bell, the room quieted down by 11:15 p.m. as Fox conceded. "The good news is that we won't be here as late as the last time. The bad news is that we didn't quite come to live out our dream of serving a third term," Fox, 51, told about 400 supporters. Both men have common career backgrounds. Hoeffel and Fox are both lawyers who served previously as state representatives. Fox was formerly Montgomery County commissioner, while Hoeffel is currently in that position. Both attended Philadelphia-area law schools: Fox at Widener University and Hoeffel at Temple University. But they chose different political parties. Linda Hosborne, 50, a Republican campaign volunteer who visited several polls during the day, said there are "a lot of Democrats in this district but lots of cross-over votes." "People jumped off [the Republican ticket] and voted for Joe," said Joanne Olshevsky, Hoeffel's campaign manager. Republican voters failed to vote straight down the party line, as the 13th District has nearly twice as many registered Republicans as Democrats. The party atmosphere at the Hoeffel campaign came to a climax at about 11 p.m. last night with chants of "We want Joe!" as television news broadcasts predicted Hoeffel as the winner. "This is unbelievable, and I've been working the polls before I could vote," exclaimed Hugh Cullen, a Democratic activist, while waiting for Hoeffel's victory speech. Hoeffel declared to the roaring crowd, "The people of the 13th District have spoken, and I like it." Looking optimistically toward the future, Fox said he planned to spend time with his family and continue serving the community. "We'll be around," Fox said. Still, many loyal Republicans were disappointed. One young boy even cried. "It's devastating," Hosborne said. "You see what has happened since [Fox] came on the scene six years ago," she said, referring to Fox's defeat of 1994 incumbent Marjorie Margolies-Mezvinsky in that year's Republican landslide. Hoeffel speculated that "you haven't heard the last of Jon Fox." Margolies-Mezvinsky lost her campaign for lieutenant governor yesterday on Ivan Itkin's ticket.
(10/27/98 10:00am)
The popular talk show hosts were in town to tape two episodes of their top-rated television program. "The mayor is married to the judge. What kind of town is this?" Regis Philbin joked after racing up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art yesterday during the filming of an episode of the top-rated syndicated television show "LIVE! with Regis and Kathie Lee." More than 5,000 Philadelphians -- including a small but vocal number of Penn students -- lined up by the steps for hours to try to get tickets for one of the two episodes that were filmed yesterday and to hear Philbin crack jokes at the expense of Philadelphia Mayor Ed Rendell and his wife, Marjorie Rendell, a judge on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, based in Philadelphia. One episode aired live yesterday morning, while the second will air today. During the episodes, the two co-hosts tasted Philadelphia cheesesteaks, horsed around with Ben Franklin, Betsy Ross and Rendell, and enjoyed a performance by city native Patti LaBelle. The show was in Philadelphia for a promotional visit. Typically, television shows air special promotional episodes in order to bolster their ratings during a period when advertising rates are set. San Francisco, London and Hawaii have been the sites of previous visits of the show. As WPVI-6 Programming Manager Rebecca Campbell explained, the show "is the highest-rated program in its time period. It is great for the thousands of fans who watch [Live] everyday to watch it in person." Executive Producer Michael Gelman -- a frequent on-air personality -- added that "we thought it was a great opportunity to get to the city, and get a lot of real talented and interesting guests." Other segments of the show featured the antics of "prop-comic" Carrot Top and a parody of the 1976 film Rocky, featuring Philbin retracing the steps of the legendary Sylvester Stallone character. Philadelphia's own Boyz II Men performed during the second episode of the show. During an interview with Rendell, Philbin remarked what a "terrific job [Rendell] has done to revitalize the city and the downtown area." Gifford added, "You can eat off the streets it's so clean here." Later in the show, Gifford struggled to digest a Pat's cheesesteak. As she bit into the sandwich, Cheez Whiz oozed onto co-host Philbin's jacket. But it was quite clear what the crowd had come to see -- and it had little to do with Philadelphia. Older women begged Philbin to "take it off," while wild groups of Regis "roadies" pointed out their favorite crew members. Suburban soccer-moms who drove from as far as California and North Carolina cheered on cue from the applause cards held up by Gelman. Even Penn students joined the excited crowd. While they said they were not hard-core fans of the television couple, College freshmen April Fletcher and Meredith Chiaccio left campus by 5:45 a.m. to get seats in the show's audience. "It was definitely worth the wait," Chiaccio said. "It was cool because in between commercials, Regis and Kathie Lee would talk to us." Although the show targets an older demographic of females 25 to 54 years old, Philbin and Gifford noted their "intergenerational" appeal in an interview after the show. According to Gifford, "Kids write me and say that they schedule classes around our show. It's great." To Gelman, this is no surprise. "College age kids like the [show's] fun and cutting-edge music acts" like Matchbox 20, Barenaked Ladies and the Backstreet Boys, all of whom debuted nationally on the show.
(10/09/98 9:00am)
While $25,000 may prove insufficient to attract a new chemistry professor or a political science superstar, it did lure about 150 budding Penn entrepreneurs to Stiteler Hall Tuesday night. As part of a new pilot "Business Plans Competition" sponsored by the Wharton School's Goergen Entrepreneurial Management Program, University students were encouraged to form "entrepreneurial teams" -- competitive student-run groups which would convert members' ideas into actual businesses. At stake is more than $25,000 in prize money for the group with the best idea -- to be judged by an independent panel of judges -- and the chance to learn hands-on about what it takes to succeed in business. The well-attended event seemed to "confirm what we have believed, that Penn is a place for entrepreneurs in the making," said Arvind Goel, a second-year Wharton MBA student and student coordinator of the program. Many attendees at Tuesday's meeting were enthusiastic about the contest as an excellent opportunity to gain experience. In fact, some already owned small businesses -- or at least had large ambitions. "I hope to start my own manufacturing business when I leave Penn, and this experience will be quite useful," Wharton freshman Mark O'Rourke said. "Twenty-five thousand dollars isn't bad as well." The contest will be conducted in three phases, explained Mark Fraga, contest coordinator and managing director of the Goergen program. In early November, he said, each team will pitch its ideas in a comprehensive business concept plan. Successful teams will then study the market for their product and submit a "feasibility study" this winter. Students will also be encouraged to tap into Wharton and the University's extensive resource base and alumni network. In fact, alumni experts in industry, business and law will serve as volunteer consultants, providing teams with real life experience specific to their sector's needs. By early spring, teams will submit their finalized plans to be considered for a $15,000 cash award. An additional $10,000 in "seed" money will be granted to the group with the winning idea should they choose to actually start the business. Other prizes will be awarded to successful teams, with special attention given to high-growth enterprises like technology and socially minded business ventures. Fraga added that the contest "is a practical side to the academic [theory] we teach." While about 80 percent of the students who attended Tuesday's meeting were from Wharton, enrollment in the business school is not a requirement. Whether you are a finance or philosophy major, according to Fraga, "entrepreneurship requires a wide spectrum of skills, ingenuity, creativity, analytic and interpersonal skills." Goel downplayed the advantage that graduate students would have over undergraduates in the contest. "Age doesn't matter. It's your drive, your courage to take risks, your ability to dream," he said. Indeed, it was the dream of Goel and fellow grad student Adam Breslin last December. The two, dissatisfied with the availability of Wharton's resources to budding Penn entrepreneurs, approached outgoing Wharton Dean Thomas Gerrity, who took an immediate interest in the students' proposal. While other Wharton faculty wanted "this program for years," according to Entrepreneurial Management Professor Ian MacMillan, an adviser to the program, "a recent gift from the Goergen foundation allowed us to start it." The school hired Fraga as the contest's director last year. For the last few months, the students, faculty and administrative staff have worked to coordinate the legal and logistical complexities of the contest. While an anonymous alumni donor provided the prize money, according to Fraga, the group is now hoping to attract a venture-capital firm to underwrite the contest in future years. In the spring of 1997, Wharton officials combined the four Management concentrations -- including Entrepreneurial Management -- into one. The entrepreneurial sector got a boost in the summer of 1997 when candle-company chief Robert Goergen -- who spoke at this spring's Wharton MBA graduation ceremonies -- donated $10 million to create a program named after him.
(09/30/98 9:00am)
More than 125 Engineering students attended a precursor to October's Career Day Monday night. When Career Services Assistant Director Rosette Pyne asked who was ready for October's Engineering Career Day at a preparatory event Monday night, the Towne Hall audience remained deadly silent. But by the end of the evening, the 125 upperclassmen who attended the event were at least a few steps closer to being ready. Resumes in hand, the students listened to a panel of Engineering alumni who had been there and done that. The group of corporate managers, engineers and scientists offered "real world" advice about corporate industry and the interviewing process in a two-hour question-and-answer session. "Think of yourself as a tube of toothpaste, and you have to get them to buy you," advised Maria Shchuka, who earned undergraduate and doctoral degrees from the University and is now employed by paper maker Union Camp Corporation. The event also included mock interviews in which students campaigned for positions in the panelists' firms. "I was nervous, but if I can do that in a real interview, I think I'll be set," said Engineering senior Marie Sedran, a Civil Engineering Systems major. "The feedback that the other student [participants] received was also really helpful." Panelists offered other tips as well. Good communication skills, a positive attitude, the willingness to ask good questions and persistence were all qualities sought by industries -- in addition to a strong grade point average. Familiarity with finance and economics were also pointed out as beneficial skills. Michael Kaufman, a 1970 Engineering graduate and current vice president of worldwide licensing and acquisitions for Johnson & Johnson, noted: "We need bright creative people who can think and solve problems and are passionate about the things they do. If you learn how to solve problems in one discipline, in a global age, you can apply those skills in whatever you do." Several panelists also said internships and senior engineering projects were other ways in which Penn students could stand out in the increasingly competitive engineering field. With Career Day coming up on October 14, most of the Engineering students agreed that the session was worthwhile. "It's great that Penn alums like to help undergraduates," senior Bioengineering major Vesal Dini said. "It is a huge opportunity to meet future employers and to prepare to present myself well." Pyne added that "alumni's willingness to participate is what makes Penn a great place. It makes a difference to hear their insight and valuable advice." Last year's Career Day garnered Engineering students more than 3,000 interviews. This year the expectations are even higher. According to Pyne, "It's a reflection of the quality of education and caliber of students. Penn engineers are in great demand."
